A batter's eye or backdrop is typically a solid-colored, usually dark, area beyond an outfield or centerfield wall or fence of a baseball diamond, stadium or field. It is a visual backdrop directly in a line of sight of a baseball batter at home plate while facing a pitcher or pitching mound. The dark backdrop helps the batter to see a pitched ball, and its primary purpose is the safety of the batter. In addition, the batter's eye helps eliminate any unfair advantage that the pitcher may have if the background were light or white colored.
In some stadiums, there are seats behind centerfield. They are often painted a dark color or otherwise covered with a large black fabric and not occupied during baseball games and can themselves serve as a batter's eye. Such a solution, however, does not work well where there are no seats or another suitable structure already in place behind the outfield or centerfield wall.
There is a long-felt need for a batter's eye that may be used in connection with baseball fields where there are no seats or bleachers or other such structure beyond the outfield or centerfield. The apparatus should be easy to install, use and maintain. In addition, the apparatus should be designed to withstand the design maximum three-second wind gust for the particular location (e.g., 90 miles per hour in most locations, and higher in hurricane zones). In addition, the apparatus should be deployable such that it may be raised or lowered closer to the ground quickly and easily, as desired.